Effectively cut loose from the monarchy,the Queen’s son now potentially faces the ignominy of a warts-and-all trial that would make his feel like a Q&A on a mother’s forum.
Prince Andrew denies having had sex with Virginia Giuffre when she was 17. Giuffre says she was forced by Jeffrey Epstein to sleep with the duke.AP,BBC
It is not just that rather than at the Tramp nightclub in Mayfair with his alleged victim,will be placed under intense scrutiny.
The discovery process,when both he and Giuffre will be questioned by the other’s lawyers under oath,before the world’s media,is likely to cause embarrassment not only to the 61-year-old royal father-of-two,but his family.
There has already been talk of his ex-wife Sarah,Duchess of York,being called to give evidence along with their eldest daughter Princess Beatrice,to corroborate his Pizza Express alibi. It is not yet known whether Andrew will have to be “deposed”,or questioned,in person in New York – or via video-link.
Be it in person or remote,the first court appearance by a member of the royal family since Princess Anne pleaded guilty to a charge under the Dangerous Dogs Act at Slough County Court in 2002 will mark an extraordinary chapter that has dragged on for more than a decade.
Prince Andrew pictured with Virginia Giuffre,then Roberts,at the home of Ghislaine Maxwell (right) in London in 2001.Supplied
Which perhaps goes some way to explaining why Andrew’s team is refusing to rule out a settlement with Giuffre to avoid any further humiliation.
The 38-year-old mother-of-three claims Jeffrey Epstein forced her to have sex with Andrew in his New York mansion,in London,and on the late billionaire paedophile’s private island in the US Virgin Islands in 2001 when she was 17. Andrew vehemently denies the claims and says he has no recollection of even meeting her.
As such there is also a potential plus side for Andrew who is so certain he did nothing wrong that he agreed to spend an hour explaining himself to the BBC’s Emily Maitlis in 2019 – a move that attracted so much criticism he was forced to step back from public duty four days later.
Unlike having the case thrown out on a legal technicality – or indeed settling out of court for an “undisclosed sum” – the only real way the Duke of York can have any hope of clearing his name is with a court victory.
Jeffrey Epstein.AP
Of course,it is a high-stakes gamble,not least when the burden of proof in civil cases is on a balance of probabilities. Giuffre will only have to prove that Andrew “probably” assaulted her whereas he faces an uphill battle to prove the negative that he didn’t – not least when there appears to be no evidence to back up his claim that he was eating pizza on the London night in question in March 2001,let alone his “peculiar medical condition”.
Yet since he and his legal team have long claimed Giuffre’s “money- hungry” testimony is full of holes – now is their chance to call her bluff in open court. Although a photograph exists of Ghislaine Maxwell’s flat in London,what evidence has she actually got that she even met?
The obvious pitfall of such an aggressive strategy is that,in the aftermath of the MeToo movement,Andrew ends up being branded a victim-blamer on top of everything else.
But with his reputation already shot to pieces,it is arguably a risk worth taking.
Meanwhile,I understand he is going to be advised to lie low so this sorry saga does not cast a further shadow over the.
There has been talk of the former Royal Navy pilot being stripped of his royal and military titles until the outcome of the case.
A better idea might be for Andrew who so fiercely protests both his innocence and his love for his mother to relinquish them now,confident that he will be cleared come the northern autumn.
The Telegraph,London
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